Newcastle’s failures in the summer transfer market have been well documented, and with just four days to go until the window slams shut it had rather begun to look as though the failing Saudi sportswashing project simply wouldn’t manage to bring in the striker they so desperately needed.
From a Liverpool point of view this was a very bad thing, since Newcastle have been highly resistant to selling Swedish superstar striker Alexander Isak to the Reds and potentially leaving themselves heading into the season with an out of position Anthony Gordon their best option to lead the line.
In the end, though, good things might be coming to those who wait—and that goes for both Newcastle and the Isak-chasing Reds. That’s because the latest from The Mail’s Newcastle-connected Craig Hope has The Magpies closing on a shock deal to sign VfB Stuttgart’s Nick Woltemade.
The shock here comes from multiple directions. First, at this point the idea of Newcastle managing to sign a striker is honestly shocking. Then there’s the part where Woltemade was considered a lock to join Bayern Munich earlier in the window, with the player said to only want the Bavarians.
Add in the part where Stuttgart set a hard deadline to conclude negotiations with Bayern—a deadline that passed with Bayern unwilling to tick above €40M for a player Stuttgart put a valuation of €100M on and that most believed it would take at least €75M to sign—and, well, shocking.
That’s assuming any of this is true, obviously. If it is, and if Newcastle get it done, it’s hard to imagine a better ending to the summer transfer window for them given the circumstances. And for Liverpool, well, it would almost certainly mean being able to get the Isak deal across the line.